"I usually describe '29 Rooms' as sort of a blend between a funhouse and a museum," said Piera Gelardi, the cofounder and executive creative director of Refiney29. "So the cultural credibility of the museum and the play and joy of a funhouse.

"So when people are coming to '29 Rooms,' I think they should expect to have their creativity awakened. They should expect an experience, they should expect the unexpected," Gelardi said. "And really it's 29 different installations that are created with different artists that bring to life different ideas and that each have a different interaction."

29 rooms started in 2015 as an event to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Refinery 29, the media company whose goal is to inspire and empower young woman. This year's theme is "Expand Your Reality."

"We were really thinking about, How do we bring people in, awaken their creativity, dare them to dream bigger and provoke thought?" Gelardi said. "'Expand Your Reality' is sort of provoking people to step outside of their day-to-day and really be open to new experiences and new ideas."

Tuchman: Would you say this year is more political?

Gelardi: Every year that we've done the event, we've had elements of politics and causes that are really important to our audience.

The "29 Rooms" are a very diverse mix. There's a dance space created with Brooklyn club "House of Yes," emerging artists, corporate sponsors, and established names such as the American Civil Liberties Union.

And, of course, this highly visual event will be very popular on social media.

Tuchman: Which of the room do you think is going to be the most Instagram-able?

Gelardi: Definitely, people are sharing like wildfire from this event. And I think that the ones this year that will be the most Instagram-able are Kali Uchis's "Doorway to Dreams." And then we worked with an artist called Uzumaki Cepeda, who has this beautiful faux fur very vibrant teenage bedroom and there's a whole message behind it, but I think just it's so visual and lush like I think a lot of people will share that one too.

Tuchman: Besides the Instagram photos, what do you hope people take away from "29 Rooms"?

Gelardi: We aim to really spark people's creativity when they come through here. We want to spread creativity, dare people to dream bigger, provoke thought, you know, have someone pick up a paint brush for the first time since middle school. It's really meant to be this space of discovery and exploration.

 

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